Two eyes that did not look human saw the rosy dawn rise after the long night. Dragontina's eyes sparkled, not only because of her natural virtue, but also because of the happiness she had felt in these weeks. 

In front of her, naked, stood the beautiful Marfisa, whose calm, relaxed breathing had accompanied her all night. Behind her, also naked, was the beautiful Medulfa, sleeping with her head on her back. 

There was a strange warmth in Dragontina's soul. Not the warmth of bodies, sun or sheets. The warmth of a loving companionship that does not abandon a loved one. That stands by them in difficult times. 

No one can know who loves him when fortune is with him, for he has both true and false friends who show the same faith. But when, as the wheel turns, the bran begins to separate from the flour. It’s then, eating bad bread, you recognize what’s in good or bad faith.  

But Dragontina had nothing to fear if she had the love potion, which, like a good spice, kept the taste of the bread fresh. Good or bad faith wasn’t a cause of worries, for no betrayal could come for her. But the more Dragontina got to know Marfisa, Aesara and Medulfa, the more she wanted to be able to taste their bread without any additives. 

Yes, the wheel of fortune shows good and bad faith, but who is in bad faith in this love nest? Marfisa lifted her eyelids and her sweet amethyst eyes drew the nymph's thoughts elsewhere. 

"Good morning, my love," said Marfisa before giving her a kiss. "Did you have a bad dream?" 

"No, I'm just full of thoughts..." replied Dragontina, "...I'm not even sure if they're sad or happy." 

"Then come here. In doubt, let me comfort you," said Marfisa, placing Dragontina on her breast. 

It was big and soft and seemed to invite the nymph to sweet rest. 

"You really have two beautiful pillows, do you know that?" said Dragontina, more in the innocent tone of a frightened child than that of a lustful lover. 

"I know, I know. The best in Rome," said Marfisa with a hint of pride in her voice, to which Medulfa (who had also woken up) replied: "Hey, hey, hey, look, I've got something to offer too," and so she took Dragontina by the shoulders and gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek, then a huge followed. 

Dragontina became thoughtful again, then burst into a hearty laugh. 

"Stop it! You're tickling me!" said Dragontina, but at these words Medulfa continued to tickle and said: "Oh no, I won't stop until I see a big smile on your face!" 

Dragontina continued to laugh, then finally Medulfa gave her a moment to take a few big breaths... but only a moment. 

"...!" (Dragontina). 

"...♥" (Medulfa). 

"M- Medulfa! That's not where you tickle," said the nymph, clutching Marfisa's breast. 

"No? But you seemed to like being tickled down here," said Medulfa in a mischievous tone. 

"...!" (Dragontina).  

"What?" said Marfisa. "Medulfa's not the only one who can tickle." 

Oh, poor Dragontina: she's finding out at her expense that in love there are no masters, only servants, and everyone surrender. She could have prevailed thanks to her love potion, but for love of Medulfa and Marfisa, she too had to bow to Love. She kissed Marfisa's breast while Medulfa did what she had to do. 

"...!" (Marfisa). 

What? I can tickle too," said Dragontina, amused by Marfisa's beautiful reaction. 

The sun had risen a little by the time Dragontina opened her eyes again. Her beautiful ladies were still sleeping by her side, a little tired and a little relaxed from their little morning exercise. Dragontina kissed them both on the cheek and began to dress. 

She didn’t had much to wear: white warmers around her forearms and small breast, and black trousers clinging around her legs. Yet it took her time to dress herself. Her mind was filled with strange thoughts, while her heart was confuse. Then her eyes fell on the mirror. She was smiling. Not the typical smile of joy and amusement. A calm and serene smile.  

She no longer felt angry, or at least the anger no longer consumed her like a raging flame. She gave a last gaze to the mirror, then opened the door. The corridor was not empty. Dragontina found standing in front of her the shy Aesara, who I believe had spied her... doing her business in bed. 

"..." (Dragontina). 

Aesara pretended to have passed there by chance. 

"You know you can join in if you want, right?" said Dragontina, to which Aesara replied: "W-would you like to h-have breakfast?" 

Dragontina didn’t have the time to answer. Aesara went immediately into the kitchen and prepared slices of bread with jam on a silver tray. She took a magnifying glass and, concentrated the sunlight, lighted the fire and started boiling the water. 

While she was concentrating on this work, Dragontina saw the bread that Aesara had left on the table. Without saying a word, without thinking, she took the bread and cut two slices that she decorated with a few strips of cheese. Then she poured some goat's milk into a cup. 

Now that she thought about it, Aesara had mentioned that when she lived in Africa, she used to drink camel or sheep milk. Well, there were no camels there, but Dragontina thought about getting some sheep's milk as a present for Aesara. Speaking of Aesara, she stood there, still slightly embarrassed at having spied on Dragontina that morning. 

"Could you please look at the clock in the hall?" said Dragontina, handing her breakfast. "I don’t want it to malfunction due to lack of maintenance." 

"Ah, yes! Right away!" replied Aesara. Aesara drank all the milk in one gulp, all the bread in one bite, and then ran away. Then she came back, gave her a kiss on her cheek, and ran away again.  

Thank the gods she was gone. If she had to endure that embarrassed look again, she would have felt guilty. It’s adorable how Aesara was pure and innocent, but after a while all that hypocritical modesty was irritating.  

"Ah! One last thing," said Aesara, returning to the kitchen. "Can you tell me what this is?" he said, moving the table to reveal the mosaic on the floor. 

It was finely tessellated and showed an oak and a linden tree intertwined, with a family of dragontina-like creatures around them: the father had purple hair, while the mother was golden.  

At the foot of the tree were three little girls, one of whom had taken her hair from her father, the other from her mother, and in the middle a third little nymph with blue hair. 

Dragontina knelt and, in a fit of nostalgia, touched her own image on the mosaic. 

"A long time ago I lived with my family in Tyana, where there were two trees under which my parents fell in love. We spent every summer there together..." Dragontina began to tell, "...then a group of fanatics pulled down those two trees along with the temples in the area. That was the last time I saw my parents.” 

"Oh, I'm sorry..." said Aesara, "where are your sisters?" 

"After that day we separated. There was no one left from our community, and we were too young to know the world, but we had heard of the Hercynian Forest, our trade along the Tanais River, and a city founded in the Oxii Mountains. We parted and I heard no more of them.” 

Silence fell in the room and Aesara remained with her head bowed, then stepped forward, kissed her on the cheek and embraced her. Dragontina was surprised for a moment, then returned the hug with a gentle look. 

"Come, fix the clock in the hall," said Dragontina. 

Dragontina watched her leave, then she took the bottle of wine with the love potion and tasted it again. She had changed it again and again, but with Marfisa, Aesara and Medulfa the filter still didn't work... at least not as it should, not as with the previous victims. They were clearly tied to her by a bond of love. However, they were often unpredictable... or just disobedient. A disobedient love that yet obeys. 

The water boiled and Dragontina made herself an herbal tea with diluted wine, borage and a touch of honey. This herbal tea had always soothed her, but only now did she realise that she did not need it so much to calm her soul.  

Her eyes rested on the cup. It was made of the unbreakable glass typical of the fey people. A mundane object to her. Marfisa however seemed fascinated by things like these. Maybe I should buy a present for her too thought Dragontina, Medulfa seems just happy to stay the plants from my greenhouse but...  

Gifts... it was that moment she realized something changed in her. The nymph lowered her gaze and noticed that between the wood veins and the shadows she could see figures in the floor: a swan, a wolf and a hare. 

Dragontina took another sip. Perhaps she moved too suddenly or maybe it was a distraction, but she felt her hand burn. The cup fell to the floor with a thud, and a reddish stain formed in front of her eyes.  

She had a bad omen. A stain lay at her feet. Its shape resembling that of a red fox biting a swan, a wolf and a shy hare. 

Meanwhile, Marfisa and Medulfa still slept in each other's arms. There was no trace of their rivalry now that the memory of Madalgarius had been wiped from their minds. Ah, males. The cause of all evil. Friendships ruin and lead to mutual hatred. I always said the world would be better off without them. Wait, did I say that? I need to read again the previous chapters to see if I said it at least once... or should I just delete that last sentence? 

Anyway, Marfisa and Medulfa were lovely sleeping, naked and in each other's arms. Then a shadow entered the room. 

"Oh, sorry," said Madalgarius, politely looking away like a good citizen. "I thought you were dressed!" 

Neither of them bothered to cover themselves. They just looked at him with hostile and ready eyes. There was no doubt that if he did not give them a welcome reply, they would pounce on him and tear him apart with the fury of a Bacchae. 

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" asked Marfisa. 

"This is the chamber of our Dragontina!" added Medulfa. 

"Our?" said Madalgarius in amazement. "From what Astulfus said about what happened in Rome, you didn't seem the type to share. Anyway, I'm not here to take or give, only to return. May I come closer?" 

With reluctance, Marfisa and Medulfa let Madalgarius sit cross-legged on the bed and showed them his hand. There was nothing, or at last nothing they were able to see.  

“...?” (Marfisa).  

“...?” (Medulfa).  

“You really have changed, and not for the better” said Madalgarius with a bit of disappointment in his voice. He isn’t a man without wisdom and understanding. He knows is not their fault if they act irrationally. Therefore, he said: “I guess this is evidence you're not truly in love, for love is the strive for goodness.” 

Marfisa and Medulfa felt offended by this insinuation. Being however women of civil and humane education, they listened with patience what Madalgarius had to say. He took off his fey ring from his finger. Now you can see it too (unless like me you can see things not visible for common mortals).  

It was shining perfectly visible in the palm of his hand. Then Madalgarius took it between two of his fingers and said: "This is the Ring of Passion. It doesn’t give power for power doesn’t give. It reveals. And it is in the nature of this ring to reveal. It won't undo the effects of a love potion, but it will wake you up". 

Madalgarius put the ring back on and something seemed to bubble up in Medulfa and Marfisa's souls. A curtain had been lifted and things that were in the shadow where now in plain sights. The history books, the medical texts, the fairy artefacts, the botany studies and finally the conversation they had had with Madalgarius in Rome months before. A veil lifted from the eyes of the two ladies, who suddenly seemed to notice what was before their eyes and hearts. 

They looked at Madalgarius, then suddenly lifted the sheets to hide their naked bodies. They looked at each other and both snapped to opposite sides of the bed, repulsed by the previous mutual hatred. 

"I suggest you get dressed quickly, Aesara is waiting for you and Dragontina will not react well..." said Madalgarius, "...and also to postpone your rivalry until more opportune times." 

They gathered all their clothes and luggage and hurried to the courtyard of Dragontina's palace, where there was only a voice to stop them. 

"Stop!" said Dragontina, flying above their head. Her heart was full of Anger and fear. "Do you want to leave me after all I have done for you? And you, stranger! How did you get to this place protected by my magic? The eyes of mere mortals should not find the way. Why, after all I have suffered, do you want to take away what gives me peace and tranquillity?" 

"How I found this place is not in my interest to reveal to you..." said Madalgarius, "...and as for taking and giving, you are the last to judge. Are you not the one who gathered men and women here. You that mutated into animals those who did not please you or of whom you had grown tired?" 

These were his words, and for a moment he stood motionless in silence. Then he picked up his fey romfaia and let its blade glow blood-red in the sunlight. Finally, with a sharp slash, he felled the slender tree that stood in the middle of the garden. 

Dragontina trembled at the blow, as if it had pierced her as well. The palace began to shake, and the tree in the centre of the beautiful garden fell prey to the flames. The bees fled and the sweet fruit, the ingredient of the love potion, disappeared in the red mantle of fire.  

"These are not your toys," said Madalgarius. "If you want someone to love you, seek it in someone you treat as your equal!" 

"Equal!" said Dragontina, laughing as if in an evil frenzy. "An equal cannot love, and there can be no love between equals, for there can be no trust between them. When the elder ceases to be such, there is no longer any reason to remain faithful."  

Then the enchantments that surrounded the palace began to fade: every animal returned to its human form, the walls and pillars lost their splendour, and the palace seemed to crumble into ruins. 

Confused and frightened, but back in human form, all the prisoners fled the palace, some on foot, others on their few mounts.  

Everyone left the palace and sought refuge in a distant clearing where they could feel safe. The people laughed and hailed the young Madalgarius and Astulfus as heroes, but then the images of their forgotten loved ones returned to their hearts, and they said their last goodbyes and set off.  

Madalgarius and Astulfus showed them the road to the nearest Town and wished them to find home and friends. Only a few remained: Marfisa, Aesara and Medulfa, and of course Rolandus, who, transformed into a lion, had always been close to Marfisa, but there were also those they had not expected to find. 

Turned into two singing nightingales, were Aquilans and Gryphon, the two sons of Oliverius, King of Sarmatia. Turned into wolves were Hermanubius of Nubia and, no less surprising for his presence in such a remote place, Rogerius, Marfisa's twin brother. 

"What are you doing here?" said Marfisa, to which Rogerius replied with a simple: "What are YOU doing here? We are quite far from home." 

"Well, there were... unforeseen circumstances," she said, looking at Madalgarius out of the corner of her eye. 

"...?" (Madalgarius). 

"If the problem is solved, I think we can go home," said Rogerius. “You know. Dad may be a little worried.” 

It was then that Madalgarius had to intervene. 

"I don't think things are that simple," said Madalgarius, and with the help of Astulfus and Aesara, he set about explaining the ongoing war between the kingdoms of Persia, Kusana, Sarmatia and Hyperborea, all to take the beautiful Marfisa as a prize. 

"Leaving everything behind to chase after a beautiful woman..." said Marfisa with a puff, "...that's really just a man's thing." 

"...?" (Aquilans). 

"..." (Aesara). 

"...?" (Gryphon). 

“...” (Hermanubius). 

"..." (Madalgarius). 

"..." (Medulfa). 

"..." (Rogerius). 

Marfisa felt so watched, that she was tempted to look over her shoulder to see if anyone was behind her. 

"What?" said Marfisa, "What?!" 

"I heard you made quite a fuss for me in Rome," said Madalgarius. 

"...!" (Marfisa). 

"And that you weren't the only one." 

"...!" (Medulfa). 

"Look, I really appreciate all this attention from two beautiful young ladies, but I ask you if you are willing to accompany me both to... resolve this ridiculous matter that is developing in the east." 

"Fine for me," said Marfisa and Medulfa in unison. They blushed, looked into each other's eyes and then looked away in two completely different directions. 

"If you don't mind, we'll help you too..." said Aquilans, "...also because if our father marries you, you run the risk of becoming our mother." 

"And we're not so sure we want to see how you would mother us," said Gryphon. 

"And you are right..." replied Marfisa, "...because as a mother I will set you straight as if I were the green-haired witch." 

"...!" (Aquilans). 

"...!" (Gryphon). 

Rogerius laughed, then said, "Sis! You shouldn’t force them to cheer against their father! Anyway, I'm with you. I won't leave you after all the trouble I went to find you." 

Marfisa turned to Hermanubius, who answered: “You have always been kind to me, and since you have always been kind to me, it is now up to me to be kind to you," he said in his usual monotonous and distant tone. 

There was only one person left to say her opinion, but our Aesara was too shy to take a step. So Astulfus nudged her forward with a pat on the back. 

"Ah, I would love to help you, that is me, that is us, me and Astulfus!" said Aesara in one breath. 

"If we all agree, then I say we all go," said Madalgarius, leaving behind Dragontina’s palace, whose ruins were visible in the horizon.  

Dragontina flew over what was left of her home until she could no longer see them. Then she turned back to the tree and fell to her knees in tears. Destroyed, in despair, she picked up the ashes and placed them on her chest. She looked at the painting under the loggia, the story of her first betrayal, and tears streamed down her face, followed by deep sobs. 

"Cursed be Venus, cursed be the gods, and cursed be I who seek comfort and consolation in love..." cried Dragontina, weeping, "...never had I received them! Oh, if I had caught them in their sleep, or if my bees had devoured them! Three times, three times I curse them!" she said, and then her gaze became terrible and determined like the sky at night. What little was left of the garden caught fire and blue and white flames blazed into the sky. 

"May they be destined for eternal pilgrimage. May they always seek love. May they suffer as I have suffered. And may from these ashes one day be born an avenger, whoever he may be, and never give them rest until I am given peace and asked for forgiveness!" said Dragontina as the smoke rose high into the sky. Nothing else she said and nothing else I will say.